You hear signs of continued fighting in the distance, although the gunshots are becoming less frequent.

You also hear the rumble of the approaching tracks in the distance, but there will be some time before the tank arrives. A minute, maybe, if you're lucky. Infantry might reach you before that in this terrain, though.

Although the enemy is now farther away, there is still a sense of impending danger looming right next to you. The forest around you seems more threatening somehow than before. Foreboding. It's almost like the trees themselves hate you.

Bloody hell what is that thing?
Whoever this chap was he had definitely done his best to make his life in this cursed cell as bad as possible. While he could have coped with a decaying corpse, (he'd dealt with plenty) this thing whatever it was went to far. He had to get out. Now.

The box he had pulled towards him had been heavy, hopefully something of use could be found within. It really was his last hope. The ropes had given a little, however the act of forcing them had cut open his wrists and made them as raw as his throat.

Summer quickly considered her options. At a glance she could find no trace of the Green Earth captain. This also meant the enemy wouldn't find him either if he were smart enough to stay hidden. The thought occured to her that he might be injured but they had both survived the helicopter crash landing earlier. To the north and south were thick trees along the forest path which could provide cover but also restrict movement. There was only one obvious solution.

The recon was mostly intact though the mishap had removed a wheel and some looser parts. Summer thought to take the radio, if it was detachable or even in one piece, and quickly surveyed the inside of the wreckage for anything else to use. Just then a BH inf appeared in the other opening and she was about to open fire on it only to be addressed. "Are you wounded? Scanning- Ow."

Despite being pistol-whipped the drone seemed unfazed and was waiting for a reply. "Look, I'm out. Lost the capn'. Follow or try your luck, whatever."

With some labouring with your feet, you manage to lift the lid on the box.

This reveals an expensive looking suit (complete with a tie) - even though it has been neatly folded into the crate you can still see it's several sizes too large for you.

Other things in the crate: A pair of polished black shoes (expensive and too large for you)

An expensive looking wallet.

A metal box with an indeterminate function. Slightly smaller than the wallet.

Just when you have taken in what you see, you hear a gurgle.

The thing, whatever it is, seems to be climbing upwards inside the man's body. It has now reached high enough to turn his neck into a grotesquely bloated. irregular shape that is shaking and pulsating as you watch.

Then, his mouth opens.

A vine sprouts out and the large bud in its tip blooms into the largest, most beautiful lotus you have ever seen.

BORIS IS DEAD.

The man's bloated stomach explodes and a huge mass of vines, leaves, flowers and compost billows out and knocks over a large crate nearby, which opens and spews its contents clattering all across the room - a noise that evidently wakes up the tenants at the floor above.

You hear a gravelly male voice bellow: "...AAAAND THAT DOES IT, SON! WE'RE GONNA BEAT THE EVER-LIVING SNOT OUT OF YOU!"

The door at the top of the staircase slams open and two men in Black Hole uniforms march down.

One of the men is thin and lanky, and looks to be about in his twenties. The other is at least two decades older, short and fat. His face looks like a pig's. They contrast each other comically.

Both of them hold mean looking sticks the purpose of which you don't need to guess.

Once they reach the floor of the cellar, the thin guard's gaze fixates on the still twitching and crawling blob of vegetation that rests in the space where Boris used to be. He goes white and begins shrieking like a woman. "AH!! AAHH!!! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

The fat guard promptly punches his partner in the face and he stops screaming. "Yow! Whatcha do that for, Vetch?!"

You can't find anything useful inside the wreck. You can't even find the radio. You're pretty sure it used to be there but it seems to be one of the parts that got dislodged and ejected during the crash. You didn't think those things were so loosely attached, but ehh.

Just by chance you happen to glance upwards, and there you see them. The radio, the wheel, the door - even what appears to be Bittman's gun. All hanging from tree branches above your heads, like dangled by bullies, just high enough to be outside your reach.

Just then two Black Hole soldiers emerge from the forest from behind Teddy. Summer freezes. Luckily for her, she is on the other side of the car where they can't see her.

Strangely, they are not shooting. They are not even raising their guns. One of them shouts: "If you find any survivors, just put a hole in their head! We're moving out soon!"

An awkward silence follows. The soldiers just stand there. You get the mounting feeling that one of you is expected to say something.

Summer: Roll for stealth. Or do whatever, if you don't care about being noticed!

Where others may have been shocked, possibly while fighting back their stomach's contents, the Lad just witnessed the, well, the plant destroy the remains of his companion in some queer fascination. It was a nice change compared to the usual bore that his now mangled corpse friend brought.
Yet that wasn't the best of it. The series of events that followed the botanical miracle had given him an adult. He had witnessed how this man had struggled to control himself when he saw the lotus extravaganza, he had also been beaten by his partner indicating he wasn't a dominant type. A weak-minded follower is all he needed, this was his chance.

"P-Please... Why would you do this to o-one of your own people? I lost my fam-m-ily to those mean outsiders, I had n-no other choice but to steal from Bernard. I... I was hungry, and then the angry men came and scared me so I ran."

Vetch turned to face him, confused. His orders apparently didn't tell him what to do with a mentally-broken frightened kid that was sobbing after witnessing a plant devour some person he didn't know. So he just looked down at the Lad, staring at him in silence. He had his attention, now he could play on his current position.

"The b-big man hurt me too... You too, he hurt you. I saws it. w-why does he hate us? He hurt me wh-en I was brought here... Al-all I wanted was s-ome food. P-p-please let me go... Or at least let me v-visit a toilet. Mummy said peeing your pants was bad and I haven't been a bad boy yet, though I'm c-close. I th-think you're better than the bad man, you won't hurt me."

And so on he rambled, if only this fool could remove these fudge ropes he'd be free. Well, as free as one can be in some random cellar infested with black coats. Once the shackles were loose... that would come later. He was too warn out to physically overcome this man, besides, it would draw the attention of the fat one.

Log-209-E
Situation: mistaken for friendly by enemy soldiers
Observation: now may be a good time to learn more
Announcement: Acknowledged.
Caution: Hostile presence detected.
Caution: Scanners indicate plant life as hostile.
Query: Is this a false flag?
Query: Requesting confirmation.
Query: Systems may require recalibration.

Teddy, upon registering that the soldiers were addressing him, replied.

"Status of all targets in the vehicle: Destroyed. One hostile was observed moving towards south."

One of the soldiers talks into his suit radio. "Grassroots here. One hostile moving south from our position. Understood. Over."

"Squad Romeo will take care of it. Okay Sergeant let's keep moving."

Teddy is now close enough to read the badges on the enemy uniforms. Their shoulder sleeve insignia designates their unit as "17TH INFANTRY CO. - THE STRANGLE VINES" The text circles an image of a skull-faced soldier with a creeper vine coiled around the neck. Luckily they didn't give a too close look at you - your Allied insignia would have been a dead giveaway.

The unknown attachments on their weapons still elude you with their purpose. They appear to be of very precise, industrial design. They aren't just jury-rigged customisations made by the soldiers themselves. It looks like R&D at Black Hole has not slowed down even though Lash left.

The men walk past the vehicle and towards the thicket of woods in the west. Summer could swear the vegetation there was sparser before. Now it looks like it would be impossible to travel by foot in that direction.

The soldier at the point presses something on one of his weapon attachments and the branches in front of him part in opposite directions, forming a tunnel that leads into the depths of the thicket. The soldiers walk in and the aperture closes behind them.

You can still hear the tank moving. It's now somewhere north from you. The occasional gunshot or burst can still be heard from east and southeast.

Summer, you spot Bittman's hat dangling from a scrub next to a small outcrop of rock. Now that you look closer there appears to be a crack in the rock below the scrub, large enough for a man to enter. If you were to slip away somewhere, that could be a good candidate for a place to slip away to.

I'll have you know slugs and snails are tenacious predators! I have to check on my herb garden regularly to make sure the little bastards don't set foot on it and start wreaking havoc!

==========

To her surprise the BH drone was able to throw the search off, for now, although she was sure she could've avoided them without its help. She noticed their new foes had more human proportions and acted like ones too unlike the dwarfish stature and robotic mannerisms of her unwitting companion. They quietly exchanged remarks about what they knew so far which wasn't much. Human enemies masquerading under the name Strangle Vines and the ability to influence certain plants, not like usual BH procedure of sending numerous armored units although this one still had a tank with them. Speaking of which, the tank seemed to be heading north which is where the regional stronghold can be found.

Summer wanted to continue west but that route was not only cut off but also now had enemy presence on it for sure. She spotted Bittman's hat hanging on a shrub above a rock. There was no sign of blood but while examining it the outline of a hole could be made out in the rock face. At a distance it looked like a simple shadow but on inspection it was deeper than that. Summer thought she could take shelter there until the coast was clear, maybe that was where Bittman was too. She figured she should take the hat to remove the cave's marker and return it to its owner.

Summer crawls into the hole with Teddy in tow. They find Bittman in the tunnel, stumbling around looking for his gun. Summer remembers having seen it hanging from a tree branch but it is quickly agreed that returning to the surface would be too risky with the Black Hole search parties combing the forest.

It is not known how long it will take for the enemy to search the close vicinity of the wreckage and find the hole (if they will find it at all) So the party agrees to follow the tunnel west, as far as it will go. It seems to be more or less the only option since east appears to be a dead end, anyway, blocked by rubble.

And that concludes the first chapter. We will have a pause of couple of days before I start the second part - the part where the game starts for real.